What can I say, he was my friend. Ally sounds so cold, as if it were a business arrangement or some alliance of convenience. We weren't either of those things. He had a place in my heart, and though he never said it the truth was in his eyes. I would have levelled armies to save him if I ever had to, or ever could, because I loved him. But then, friendship is a love, isn't it? It's a bond and what else are they? To everyone else, to the ones who look onward and make their own assumptions, each of them worth the same as their weight, we are allies.
After the shock dissipates and my heart returns to its steady, almost bored, thumping I pick myself off the chessboard tile. I'm glad Darwin is sleeping. He knows not to call me "Mom" outside these walls but this is home and he might have cried out. My mind has Carlos and the ham on constant replay. The smirk and then the smile that extended right up into his dark eyes. Eyes like Darwin's. Then I dwell on his words-- "...your 'servant.'" My paranoia has kept us alive this long, but if he has offered us his allegiance and I don't accept, it will cost us dearly. The Running Blades started breeding a while ago, I know they have kids up there. Carlos must be a father a few times over. I think that's what tips the balance toward a cautious trust. He couldn't care less about me, I'm just "the ghost" to him, it's Darwin he's interested in. Again my paranoia flares, he wants to take him, use him. Then my second voice mediates again, he could have taken him today if that's what he wanted.
Found in Darwin's Ghost - first draft, authored by .
Teddy nods as he passes. He'd sooner see me in a ditch than scratch his car but right now he finds me useful and that makes me is ally. He wants payback on Rikka more than money right now, and that says a lot. Teddy is all about the cash. For now I can afford to piss a few more folks off than I normally would, but not too much, my new found "friend" can be fickle. Once he deserts me I'll have to carry my new swagger all on my own, but by then I'll have learnt enough of his tricks to fake it till I make it, or so I hope.